Michigan Dems look to overturn right-to-work laws

Furious at Michigan’s Republican Gov. Rick Snyder for the blistering speed that he signed right-to-work legislation into law, Democrats say the fight isn’t over.

“2014 begins today,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer in a pointed reference to Snyder’s re-election bid in two years.

The governor signed the legislation into law Tuesday after a contentious day of protests outside the Capitol and shortly after the Republican-controlled Legislature approved the two bills that shift Michigan from a collective bargaining state to a right-to-work state.

Unions and Democrats are adamant a challenge to the new laws that cover collective bargaining for both public and private employees will come — as soon as they determine what that is.

“If Gov. Snyder thinks that Michigan citizens will go home and forget about what happened in Lansing today, he is sorely mistaken,” Brewer said in a statement late Tuesday.

“They will not forget how Snyder hid from the public and signed the bills before the ink was dry,” Brewer said. “Snyder has set the tone for the next two years, and this fight is not over.”

There could be legal challenges to the new right-to-work laws, Democrats say. And there could be a push for a new ballot proposal to repeal the new laws.

“All options are on the table,” Michigan Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirsten Alvanitakis said. “Everything is under consideration at this point.”

The new right-to-work laws take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns for the year. That adjournment could be as early as today.

The right-to-work laws mean employees can’t be forced to join a union or pay dues as a condition for employment.

In hustling the laws through the Legislature, Michigan became the country’s 24th state with right-to-work laws.

Snyder, after dodging right-to-work legislation for his first two years as a divisive issue, abruptly changed course last week after the Michigan Chamber of Commerce called for their passage.

In signing them into law, Snyder said they were pro-worker and good for the economy. Other backers have referred to the new laws as “freedom to work” while critics have labeled them “right-to-work-for-less” laws.

“Obviously a lot of Michigan residents are concerned that the governor and Republican Legislature has passed the most anti-middle class legislation the state has ever seen,” state Rep. Tim Greimel, an Auburn Hills Democrat, said Wednesday.

“Concerned groups in this state will be looking at filing legal challenges to the new law as well as the possibility of pursuing a voter initiated law that would effectively repeal the so-called right-to-work legislation,” Greimel said.

Snyder said Wednesday in a new video and blog post that it’s time to move on to other issues as the agenda to “reinvent Michigan” continues.

“Yesterday I signed a ‘Freedom to Work’ law to give workers a choice on whether or not they want to join a union,” Snyder said. “That will give Michigan’s hardworking women and men the power of choice, and it will help make Michigan more competitive — and that means a stronger economy with more better paying jobs.

“But that’s just one law — one reform of many that is helping Michigan be the comeback state,” the governor said.

Snyder said it’s time to move on to regional transit in southeast Michigan, legislation to shift the status of Blue Cross Blue Shield away from nonprofit, and the construction of a new international bridge to Canada the governor says will create 10,000 jobs.